Panbiogeography of the Santa María Amajac area, Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract

The Santa María Amajac paleolake is located in the central portion of Hidalgo, Mexico. Twenty-seven fossil taxa of aquatic and terrestrial plants, gastropods, ostracods, amphibians, and mammals identified previously in the area of the paleolake were selected and their distribution in America during the Late Pliocene-Pleistocene was analyzed using the panbiogeographic method. As a result of the overlap of 27 individual tracks, 5 generalized tracks were obtained: I) Western North American, II) Central North American, III) Eastern North American, IV) Mesoamerican, and V) South American. The generalized tracks are consistent with previous proposals for extant gymnosperms, amphibians, sauropsids, birds, mammals, aquatic plants, insects, beetles, and nematodes, suggesting that distribution patterns have prevailed since the late Pliocene (Blancan). Four biogeographic nodes were identified, 2 situated in North America, in California and Colorado, the third located in the Santa María Amajac area in central Mexico, and the fourth located in Central America.